Anthony Richardson arrives to the Indianapolis Colts with high expectations for his rookie season in the league. Which is expected, given that the former Florida passer was taken fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Fortunately, the Colts are seemingly handling his development the correct way to this point. Rather than making him wait for his turn in practice, head coach Shane Steichen is giving Richardson valuable first-team reps in OTAs.

Richardson will undoubtedly have a learning curve after only starting one full season at Florida. There will be ups and downs, but that's normal for any rookie quarterback. With that said, he's already impressing his teammates.

Tight end Mo Allie-Cox has been a big weapon for the Colts since signing with the team in 2017. He has played with his fair share of quarterbacks in the NFL, from Andrew Luck to veteran journeymen during his time in the league.

Now, he's set to play with at least one more quarterback in 2023, depending on how Steichen handles the Richardson and Garnder Minshew compeition. Allie-Cox is already seeing the rookie grow in one significant area.

“He’s definitely very mature," Allie-Cox said during OTAs. "(I'm) excited to watch him work. Sometimes it doesn’t even look like he’s throwing a ball – he’s just like flicking it and it gets there. You can just tell all the tools are there. You can see his confidence is growing every day the more and more reps he gets."

It's evident that Richardson has the tools and ability to be a big-time player in the NFL, at least in the eyes of Allie-Cox. The veteran tight end has caught passes from several different signal callers. There's no doubt he excited about the potential of the rookie.

Even in just the span of a few days, Allie-Cox took notice of the ways that Richardson was improving in practice. Of course, taking first-team reps will continue to be beneficial for Richardson as he learns the playbook.

"Now they’re starting to work him in with the ones and stuff like that," the tight end continued about Richardson. "From Monday to today, you can see the improvements. The sky is the limit for him.”

It's still early in the summer and real games won't be played for another few months; however, Anthony Richardson is already showing growth in a significant area – confidence – that has a chance to pay off quickly.

Featured image via Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports